Only 850 newcomers were registered as immigrants during December, 100 less than November when the liya figure fell below 1,000 a month for the first time in 12 years. During December 889 Jews left the Soviet Union but only 206 of them came to Israel, making the drop-out rate a high 76 percent.
Throughout 1980, a total of 1.2 million tourists visited Israel, a six percent increase over 1979. Two-thirds of the tourists came from Western Europe, mainly West Germany and Great Britain. About a quarter of the total came from the U.S.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.